my reactions to attending UFC 90

Even though Chicago is my hometown, I was dismayed by the experience at Allstate arena, and the crowd was brutal as well. First off, the seats at allstate arena are so narrow that you feel squeezed in. I'm an average sized guy, I can't imagine how any "heavyweights" would be able to sit in these seats!

The crowd were a bunch of drunkards! I had several friends sitting throughout the stadium in various sections and they expressed the same experience. These drunkards wouldn't even wait for breaks in between rounds to get up. They would constantly be getting up for more beer or probably to go to the bathroom endlessly in the middle of fights! Everyone was doing it so nobody yelled at them, because I guess it was viewed as normal Later in the evening the police told the concession stands to stop serving alcohol because the whole stadium was getting plastered. I doubt any of them even remember the last few fights of the night.

On the plus side, the stadium was not visibly sold out and so there were numerous pockets of good seats together. The stadium security could care less if you moved around to better seats. Though I did not try to get down to the lower level. Nevertheless that stadium is so small that even if you were standing at the roof level and watching the fight, you had a good angle on the octagon. Next time I'm going to save money and just buy a $50 ticket for any seat that's available since I truly believe there's no such thing as a bad seat in that place.

Due to the intoxication level of the place, there were numerous drunk comments being shouted out throughout the night like "Finish him!", or my favorite when there was a rare quiet moment someone would yell "Rogan smokes blunts!".

Anyway I've also been to events in Ohio and Montreal, and I enjoyed their crowds and stadiums much better. Ohio was always extremely quiet like a library. It was like everyone there was a diehard knowledgeable fan who were intently studying the fights in silent observation. Montreal on the other hand was the best ever. An enormous stadium with 4 levels and the entire crowd chanting positively like they were watching their hometown sports team. Of course GSP was there that night, but the crowd was chanting positively during every fight. It was like one great unified party.

Its interesting that Dana says that Chicago is the payperview purchasing leader in the nation, yet they couldn't even visibly sell out the small Allstate arena. I have a feeling that the ppv stats are skewed due to the fact that almost every bar in Chicago shows the ppv every month (usually without a cover charge).

Anyway it was interesting to note that the drunk crowd at Allstate arena was booing Anderson Silva when he was playfully toying with Cote. I actually found that toying to be pretty entertaining. I do not feel it was disrespectful to Cote and I'd say it was definitely not disrespectful to the drunk fans at the Allstate arena. I watched the televised bio on Silva with Rachelle Leah and what I saw then was a very playful man. I think that that is simply what we saw again in the octagon last night, a playful man who was just being himself. Furthermore, when the fight ended on account of Cote blowing out his knee, the crowd booed because the intial instant replay did not zoom in on his leg. Of course we can't hear the commentators (I so wish that they would broadcast on a radio frequency like what happens for hockey games), so we didn't know what to think at the time. Later they showed a replay which zoomed in on his leg and we all understood. I really hope there's a rematch, because I really think Cote had a chance!

postman

10/26/08 4:57:07PM

Long read didn't go trought it all but I couldn't belive all the booing. I was giving the city the benifit of the doubt its what they are used to doing at sporting events. I mean sure there are a few moments of happiness but you know the cubs are going to blow it everytime.

Sorry Fleek

moob

10/26/08 5:08:12PM

Props for telling it like it was - the crowd were a disgrace IMO - no offence.

prozacnation1978

10/26/08 5:57:16PM

i went to chicago from calijust got home, chicago suckedi hated it there, to make matters worse my ticket for the event was stolen out of my room at a hotel i was staying at, had to go through hell to have ticketmaster replace it. the fights were boring decisions, and the silva fight was god awful. i can't believe i spent a grand for my trip to see silva act like a foul in the cage. and then the icing on the cake was cote blowing his god damm knee out. i ran out of there so fast at least i beat the traffic.now i am hoping vegas in dec will be better cause just when i tough ufc 86 was a bor now comes ufc 90 joke. i am starting to just not go to live events.

The referee that reffed the Maynard/Clementi fight should be fired and later shot in the dick by Butters from South Park. i was unable to watch the event live, so i just finished watching all of the fights. i seriously want to go to that guys house and while he is making love to his wife say, "Let's go gentleman, you gotta do something." i swear i was going to kill someone every time he spoke...thank god Rogan felt the same way and was vocal about it.

oh and o the crowd:

P.S. go castrate your first born sons and jump into a pit of molten tar. never show your presence EVER at a UFC again or i will personally kill every last one of you Rambo style

*end rant*

Sam_Rothstein

10/26/08 9:52:27PM

Posted by jiujitsufreak74

The referee that reffed the Maynard/Clementi fight should be fired and later shot in the dick by Butters from South Park. i was unable to watch the event live, so i just finished watching all of the fights. i seriously want to go to that guys house and while he is making love to his wife say, "Let's go gentleman, you gotta do something." i swear i was going to kill someone every time he spoke...thank god Rogan felt the same way and was vocal about it.

oh and o the crowd:

P.S. go castrate your first born sons and jump into a pit of molten tar. never show your presence EVER at a UFC again or i will personally kill every last one of you Rambo style

*end rant*

Hahahaha yeah I know that dude was pissing me off. Was it me or was that dude like less then 2 feet away from the fighters at all time. I know you have to be close tto see but he was like a split second away from getting ran into like 30 times. I dunno if it was because I was high but it was bugging the shit out of me the entire event.

I hope he won't be at any other events

higdon10

10/26/08 10:09:05PM

Posted by Sam_RothsteinI hope he won't be at any other events

He's probably an Illinois official

Ben_Hutch

10/26/08 10:17:45PM

The crowd seemed to boo everyone during their post-fight interviews with Rogan regardless of who they were, how exciting their fight was or if they won or lost, what a bunch of dicks.

Solidus

10/26/08 10:35:24PM

Interesting to hear from someone there, your experience is exactly the impression I got of the place from watching it on ppv.

Those idiots booing should count themselves lucky to be able to say years from now that they had the priviledge to see an MMA legend dance around in the ring. And like others have already pointed out, I dont think he was being disrespectful toward Cote, if anything he gave him too much respect. I think he was trying to be entertaining and give us more than 1 round.

reptile1

10/27/08 4:45:18PM

I was there and enjoyed it those morons who were booing gave us real Chicago MMA fans a bad name

4u2nv

10/27/08 4:49:16PM

Sad thing is Chicago is the closest town for me to see it in, unless it goes back to Ohio. But after seeing the fights and hearing ur exp Chicago aint for me.

Aaronno9

10/27/08 5:06:13PM

All i heard was booing, with the odd "lets go gentlemen, gotta keep working" over the top.

Im still shocked at the way sherk was booed after puttng on an amazing (imo) fight. I really just cant get that mentality of paying so much to go to an event and then ruining it by just booing. I remember when i went to the event at newcastle, and when a fight was boring the crowd just entertained themselves with chants ect to keep the atmosphere alive. Saying that, we had 6 tko's, the war of the pauls, and BJ penn wrecking steveson, so i guess their was nothing to complain about . Happy times.

Actually, the more i think about it, the biggest boo of the night actually came when sherk entered the cage after B.Js fight . Totally different circumstances though.

Mayo

10/27/08 11:11:21PM

Posted by 4u2nv

Sad thing is Chicago is the closest town for me to see it in, unless it goes back to Ohio. But after seeing the fights and hearing ur exp Chicago aint for me.

Well the great thing is that is seems like whenever the Arnold Classic comes to Ohio each year, the UFC will be there too... this might become a tradition. I will definitely drive out there for it next Spring, since it was such a great experience over there!

As for Chicago, I would say it is still worth it if you only buy a $50 ticket, since that's almost the same cost as a payperview. And the fact that Allstate arena truly does not have a bad seat in the whole place (regarding the view) means you'll at least be close to the action, if not the f$%#@ drunkards!

But seriously, when are the commentators going to be broadcast on AM radio like the hockey games so that I can sit in the stadium using some Bose noise-cancelling headphones to CANCEL OUT the drunkards, and zone in to Rogan's voice!

telnights

10/27/08 11:52:59PM

Yeah I didn't care for the booing. I can even understand it some times but it was just out of control at this event. I don't think I have ever seen it that bad. Also where in the world did they get the some of their refs from.

The one ref that keep saying lets see some action like 2 sec after it hit the ground was driving me crazy. Just shut up and let them fight. If they stall for to long then fine stand them up. But for the love of god don't sit there and say the same thing over and over just because the fight is on the ground. He was saying this even when the guys were very active on the ground.

tberg420

10/28/08 2:38:15PM

Totally agree with what you said. My wife and I sat in section 202 and it was really bad. The constant drunks yelling to stand the fight up and quit being a "bitch" were quite uncalled for. There was also a comment during the McFedries/Leites match that I will never repeat. Heck, the guy next to me got so annoyed with the fans screaming in his ear that he left before the main event. I think that the UFC/Arena should be smart and stop selling alcohol once the main card starts. The security was also quite ridiculous in that they wouldn't let me bring in my SLR camera because the zoom was too large. This is something that has never happened before and when I questioned it, I was told by the cop, that the promoters don't like those cameras.

WHAT?!?!?!?!

Is this pro wrestling or something? Was I going to get the only shot of Dana White signaling to Earl Hebner once Anderson had Cote in the Sharpshooter? It was a lame excuse by the cop but what can you expect you know. It was almost as bad as security telling me that I couldn't take a camera into the weigh ins. However, they did allow the camera in anyway. The weigh ins and meeting tons of fighters was awesome but the event will be forever remembered as the UFC 90: Belligerent Frat Boy Uprising.

the_01

10/28/08 4:48:38PM

I have always said it, Alcohol is the Human's biggest mistake.

prozacnation1978

10/28/08 7:48:20PM

the illinois refs suckedi don't think they have reffed a mma fight in their life

Mayo

10/28/08 8:08:52PM

Posted by tberg420

Totally agree with what you said. My wife and I sat in section 202 and it was really bad. The constant drunks yelling to stand the fight up and quit being a "bitch" were quite uncalled for.

Well that just confirms it... I was at section 210 which is directly across the stadium from you, and my friend was at section 206 which is in between us. All sections experienced similar drunken debauchery. My friend at section 206 is a female and the drunks over there were apparently singing some kind of "boobies song" every time the ring girl came out.

Maybe next time I'll bring my iPod and put the TUF theme song on repeat with some big oversized headphones so I can focus on the fights

tberg420

10/31/08 10:40:46AM

Here's my recent article that I wrote talking about my experiences. I hope that everyone can read it and support it.

Good article man!A couple comments.......You give suggestions about curbing the alcohol in the future... but I'll tell you it comes down to who the crowd is.... when I went to Ohio and Montreal, the people there respected the alcohol and didn't abuse it like the drunken fools in Chicago. Ohio and Montreal also showed respect in waiting in between rounds to get up.But man you are from Indiana, you should be driving to Ohio for your fights, not Chicago! You should definitely go to Ohio this spring and also the attend the Arnold Classic on the morning of the event. You'll have a lot to write about for that one!

tberg420

10/31/08 1:07:36PM

Posted by Mayo

Good article man!A couple comments.......You give suggestions about curbing the alcohol in the future... but I'll tell you it comes down to who the crowd is.... when I went to Ohio and Montreal, the people there respected the alcohol and didn't abuse it like the drunken fools in Chicago. Ohio and Montreal also showed respect in waiting in between rounds to get up.But man you are from Indiana, you should be driving to Ohio for your fights, not Chicago! You should definitely go to Ohio this spring and also the attend the Arnold Classic on the morning of the event. You'll have a lot to write about for that one!

Yeah, thanks for the good suggestions. My wife and I attended the weigh ins for the Cincinnati and Columbus cards but couldn't afford the tickets. Its definitely something that I will look forward to this March.